I have just returned from attending JIMTOF 2026 that took place in Tokyo, Japan, from the 26th – 31st of October 2026. The biennial event organised by the Japan Machine Tool Builders’ Association (JMTBA) and Tokyo Big Sight Inc. brought together more than 1 100 exhibitors across more than 4 400 booths, and attracted 115 000 visitors from all over the world who were seeking to engage with the latest technological developments our industry has to offer.
Despite the current geopolitical and economic challenges facing the world, the energy amongst both attendees and exhibitors was palpable with many manufacturers using the opportunity to debut world premieres.
This year’s theme – “When technologies take off, the possibilities are limitless” – was a fitting way to describe the technologies that were showcased by both Japanese machine tool builders and related component manufacturers as well as other exhibitors from around the world.
It really is astonishing to see what changes in the short space of two years since the previous JIMTOF exhibition took place.
A few years ago, you were going to start getting left behind if you weren’t incorporating some kind of machine tool and cobot cell in your offering as a machine tool builder. Now, it seems you might be looking at being left behind if that same machine tool hasn’t incorporated a cobot within the machine tool itself along with other multitasking capabilities, and of course, artificial intelligence (AI) solutions too.
AI-related solutions are standard now, from tooling usage monitoring and predictive machine tool maintenance to best practice energy optimisation, customers now expect this in some form or another to help them manage their shop floors.
There were many positives to celebrate at JIMTOF 2026 including surging machine tool orders for the local and export markets in Japan. September 2026 orders hit an all-time record high of ¥223.21 billion ($1.4 billion). A more than 60% increase year-on-year.
This growth has largely been driven by the demand for AI data centres and it is unlikely to be a short-term phenomenon as more and more countries and companies seek to safeguard data sovereignty. Orders from North America are up 71.8% and 61.7% from China.
Other areas of growth included semiconductor-related manufacturing equipment as well as demand from the aerospace industry.
A special exhibition featured the evolution of Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ humanoid robot Kaleido, now in its ninth version, with work on the 10th version already underway. It is envisioned that this industry will be worth some ¥60 trillion ($380 billion) by 2040. Mainly brought about by labour and skill shortages, these autonomous mobile robots will be focussed on taking over the labour-intensive functions from humans across the shop floor.
Kawasaki doesn’t foresee these robots replacing humans entirely, but rather supporting a co-worker relationship where the mundane tasks are alleviated from humans. There has been rapid development of innovation in this area recently, particularly in China and the US, but we are more than likely still a decade away from seeing mass humanoid robot deployment. The technology and manufacturing processes are still evolving and the adaptable dexterity a human hand and mind offers – specifically with reasoning – still far outweigh what a humanoid robot is capable of.
The race for physical AI is on in the manufacturing and machine tool builders’ world and this technology is being rapidly implemented. Some of it is still in its infancy stages, but some of it offers a glimpse into what will become standard across shop floors in the future. Of particular interest will be its applicability to job shops and its ability to facilitate optimised shop floor output.
It’s going to be a game-changer in supporting shop floors with decision-making, verifying AI reasoning and decisions, enabling further automation and complete optimisation of production, from order taking, material and tool selection, energy conservation, to delivery to the customer, at the lowest cost and in the least possible time, this technology offers it all. Opportunity abounds.
My full report on JIMTOF 2026 will be out in our January 2027 edition of Metalworking News. It’s going to be very interesting to see what is on offer in 2028.
